Landlord and electrical power consumption question

etc

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I have few questions. I am renting half of a house from a private owner. I am paying a fixed price per month, all utilities included. (Water, electric, etc.)

Now a few weeks ago I got that "Mechanics Light" from Sears. It's that lite with dual heads and multi-mode -- 250W-500W-750W-1000W, on a long tripod.

My question is this: How much power does this unit consume on its lowest setting, say 250W, which is what I usually run it on -- how does it compare to a regular incan bulb? He said he prefers me to use the overhead lite (there are about 3 halogen (?) bulbs) Am I correct in thinking the consumption is about the same? Please quote some hard figures so I can take it to him.

Reason for the question is, the landlord told me he doesn't want me to use them, which I find strange on two grounds: First, I don't believe its high-output bulbs (Xenon? Halogen?) use all that much power vs. an regular incan bulb, and more importantly, I believe I am within my rights as "all utils are included" in the lease. So are they, or aren't they? I mean, I am not running light for a football field here.
Is there a set KW that's included in the lease?


Lastly, he doesn't heat the section where I am staying and lately it has been getting very cold here, except that I am running my electrical oil heater, which makes things nice and warm. Am I correct in thinking that it consumes much more power than any light? (Some hard numbers would be appreciated)
 
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Wyeast

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Wattage is a measure of power consumption, so at 250W you're consuming 250W. This is more than typical incandescent bulbs (usually in the 40-100W range), much more than compact fluorescent (10-25W), but less than a typical "black dish" standing halogen lamp (300-500W)

Xenon/Halogen bulbs are incandescent bulbs, but filled with a different gas to help keep the glass clearer and help with the life of the filament. You do get more light per energy consumed because the filament can run hotter, but that's not what is being measured by the wattage.

An overhead light with bulbs - the power is going to depend on the bulbs that are being used. If they're (3) 40W bulbs, you're using 120W - half the power of your mech light at the lowest setting. If they're 100W bulbs, you're using just a little bit more.

He's freakin' probably becuase they *could* be running at 1000W... or maybe he's afraid you're gonna set up a pot growing shop. ;)

Typical portable electric heaters operate in the 750-1500W range. You'll have to look at your specific model to get hard power #'s for it. And that's power when it's "on". An oil-filled heater (well, just about any heater really) will power cycle on/off so average it uses somewhat less power. Depends on the temperature setting and how hard it's working.

Hope that helps!
 

etc

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There are 3 lites on the ceiling, there are these long, about 4 ft tubes, not sure what they are called, and they produce very white light. I hear they are economical to use vs. regular round incan. bulbs you screw into a socket.

Now back to my 250W lite, if it uses more power than these 3 (or 6, if each lite unit has dual tubes, I haven't looked) in terms of $ per month? Am I correct in thinking it is a trivial amount, likely not even $20? Or am I way off?
 

jtr1962

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etc said:
There are 3 lites on the ceiling, there are these long, about 4 ft tubes, not sure what they are called, and they produce very white light. I hear they are economical to use vs. regular round incan. bulbs you screw into a socket.
If it's four foot tubes which produce very white light then the overhead lights are fluorescents. If they are 1.5" diameter then they are 40 watt tubes. If they are 1" diameter then they are 32 watt tubes. How much power they use depends upon the type of ballast. Typically 40 watt tubes on a magnetic ballast will draw about 45 watts each from the power lines, so the total for all 6 tubes would be about 270 watts. 32 watt tubes on an electronic ballast would use anywhere from about 26 to 35 watts, depending upon the type of ballast (energy saver, regular, high output). With a regular ballast figure about 30 watts each for a total of 180 watts.

As you can see then the ceiling lights would use no more than the mechanics light on low, and perhaps less. Morever, you'll get 3 to 5 times the light from the fluorescent tubes for the same wattage. What exactly is the reason you would rather use the mechanic light when you could be getting much more light (and a whiter light) from the fluorescents?
 

TedTheLed

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I think those four foot tubes (fluorescent) use around 40 watts each so that would be very close to 250 watts total with all of them on..they probably produce more light than the 250 watt lite will, but not as much heat..

do you know what the landlord pays per kilowatt hour?
 

etc

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No, I don't. Fluorescent lites. Thanks, That was exactly the type of info I was looking for. There are 6 1.5" diameter tubes.
 

BB

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You did not post where you are at, or what your electrical rate is... But, as a start, it will be, typically in the US, somewhere between $0.10 and $0.25 per kWatthr... (the $0.10/kWh would be near baseline rate, the $0.25/kWhr would, typically, be for areas that use AC, electric hot water, and or other large electric loads--well above base-line in most states). You would need to see the electric bill to be sure of your costs…

Your 1,000 watts of lights running 1 hour will cost around $0.10 to $0.25. Your 250 watt light (0.25 kWatt) would cost 1/4 per hour to run...

The 250 watts of florescent and 250 watts of Halogen will both, pretty much, output 250 watts of heat per hour (light too is, usually converted to heat).

The florescent should be much more light (per watt)--but will cost as much at the 250 watt halogen to run.

If the home is using AC, then using just one of the fixtures (say 80 watts), would save a bunch on the costs to AC the space, versus the 250 watt halogens...

The last issue the landlord is probably concerned about is that if the halogens have a rag dropped over them, or fall onto a wood or carpeted floor--they generate tremendous amounts of heat and can easily set flammable materials on fire (many of the newer halogens have screens to give 2 or 3 inches of air space between the face and anything touching the surface of the lamp/fixture.

Your oil heater should be cheaper to operate for heat than running lights/electric heater/halogens. But, if the price of oil is high, and the cost of your electric power is low, it may be close to a wash in pricing between the too...

Lastly, I hope your oil furnace is properly vented--Right?

In the end, don't surprise your landlord and try to work with him/her... If you have a fast desktop computer, electric space heater, or something else, it is possible for you to add $30-$100 to the power bill pretty quickly.

A handy device for measuring power used is a kill-a-watt meter... They cost about $25-$40 each and may help you to either convince your landlord that you are not using that much power, or to pay only your chunk of unusual power usage (like a computer/server).

-Bill
 

BIGIRON

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Like most real estate questions -- it all depends. Most standard leases don't stipulate an amount of allowed use in a situation like this. I would guess it would boil down to what was "reasonable and customary" for the property. Probably take a judge to decide if you guys can't work it out.
 

Edwood

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I've had so many scum bag landlords in the past. The last one decided to evict me because they decided to do some construction and make two apartments into one. I hadn't even been there a year yet. So rather than fight the eviction, I ran up one helluva electricity bill. I ran 10 computers 24/7, every light in the place, and just for fun, ran the AC and a space heater at the same time. (OK, didn't do that one 24/7 for safety reasons).

I now own my own home, so my "landlord" is the bank and governement, but they just want my money and leave me alone as long as I pay.

-Ed
 

chesterqw

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i think you should get Fluorescent lights.

you see, for incans, only 10% of the power they use is "turned" into visible light.

the other 90% is for UV and infrared.

for Fluorescent though, 30% is "turned" into visible light!!!

you gain 20% more lumens for the same power rating :) :) :) :) :)
 

BB

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chesterqw said:
i think you should get Fluorescent lights.

you see, for incans, only 10% of the power they use is "turned" into visible light.

the other 90% is for UV and infrared.

for Fluorescent though, 30% is "turned" into visible light!!!

you gain 20% more lumens for the same power rating :) :) :) :) :)

Actually, it is better than that--you get three times the number of lumens (3x 10% = 30% of 100% of energy supplied) for fluorescent lights over average incandescent lights. :candle:

-Bill
 
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turbodog

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The life span on bulbs is also a factor. The halogen ones don't seem to last a long time, especially compared to fluorescent.

If you need more light, ask him to upgrade the existing lights.
 

cyberhobo

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I converted to fluorescents four years ago. So far I have not had to replace a single bulb/tube. Power bill is down some as well. I especially like the indoor/outdoor flood fluorescents.
 
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